The Canadian national men’s team’s preparations on home ground at the Sorkkam indoor facility in Scarborough, Ontario, concluded on Monday evening (December 29, 2014). The squad will depart on Thursday (New Year’s Day – Jan 1, 2015) from Pearson International Airport bound for warm-up games in Harare (Zimbabwe) before competing in the vitally important Pepsi World Cricket League Division Two in Namibia that opens on January 17, 2015. Canadian coach Mukesh Narula is confident that the squad has the right mental attitude and hunger to do well in WCL Division 2, the potential stepping stone for Canada to return to the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Championship and the first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup competitions.
Canada needs to place in the top two of WCL Division 2 in order to advance to those two top ranking competitions for ICC Associate and Affiliate members. Canada won only one of fourteen games and placed last of eight teams in the previous ICC World Cricket League that ran from 2011 until late 2013. A last game outright win agsint the Netherlands at Maple Leaf Cricket Club saw Canada move from eighth place to an eventual sixth place in the ICC Intercontinanal Cup, ending one point above Kenya in the standings.
The hope of a place for Canada in the ICC T20 World Championships disappeared with a weak showing in the 2013 qualifier in the UAE. Canada then not only failed to secure one of the last two spots in the 2015 ICC World Cup but dropped down the ICC Associate and Affiliate 50-over cricket international rankings with some disappointing results in the January 2014 Wordl Cup qualifier played in New Zealand. Canada, the Netherlands and Kenya each lost ODI status after that event where the UAE, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea moved up the rankings.
Pepsi ICC WCL Division 2 in January 2015 provides the chance to begin the climb back into the higher ranks of non-test playing cricket counties for Canada – as well as for Canada’s opponents in Nambia
Canada is scheduled to play four warm-up games against a Zimbabwe A team in Harare as well as acclimaitze with outdoor practice sessions in the middle and that allow deep field catching and throwing practices. Then come the vitally important games in Namibia against The Netherlands (Jan 17), Kenya (Jan 18), Nepal (Jan 20), Uganda (Jan 21) and host Namibia (Jan 23). The top two teams will then playoff in the tournament final, as well as qualify for the higher ground tournaments of the World Cricket League Championship and the Intercontinental Cup.
The two teams that foot the six-team WCL Division Two standings will be relegated to the next World Cricket League Division Three. The future development and financial support for cricket in Canada depends on a successful showing in Namibia, which means a place in the top two.
Squad members living in the Greater Toronto Area have attended a sessions aimed at improving their mental toughness and understanding of the game, as well as taking part in the fitness and net sessions at Sorkkam. National Coach Mukesh Narula spoke of the need for players who reach scores in the 30’s to aim higher and reach for a century after Monday evening’s net session. Team members would then be able to appreciate and smell the sweat of scoring a century in a game played in hot weather. It mirrored some words said by Mike Proctor at the end of the 2006 Associate’s ODI series in South Africa that had featured Canada, the Netherlands and Bermuda about turning 20’s and 30’s into 50’s and then turning 40’s and 50’s into big scores.
Canada’s win in the last game of the last ICC Intercontinental Cup campaign – admittedly not a 50-vers per side game – was based around a score of 150 by Ruvindu Gunasekera against the Netherlands. The bowlers and fielders, as well as other batsmen also played some signficant roles so that the Canadian team won the game. There are some vacancies in individual best scores in the hundreds in inernational cricket in this Canadian squad. Perhaps some will hit a century, but the most important thing is to win matches and place in the top two. Five straight wins in January’s Pepsi ICC WCL Division 2 for Canada would be a good start! Then would come the climb back into the top two or three in the ICC Associate and Affiliate rankings.
Cricket Canada General Manager, Ingleton Liburd, reflected at the recent Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce Sports Forum in Brampton that in the first qualifying vompetition for a cricket world cup, Canada and Sri Lanka won the two available place in the 1979 World Cup that was played in England. “Look where Sri Lanka is now, and look where Canada is….”.
A lot of young cricketers have emerged in Canada during the last 6-10 years. Time for some of that potential to be realized, then time to build better relationships with potential major sponsors of cricket in this counrty.
Canadian success in Nambia would add to the sports flavouring of 2015 being “The Year of Sports in Canada”, as it has been proclaimed by the Governor General. .
Happy New Year – 2015.
Eddie Norfolk
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